A Sponsor for Valentine's Day
by glubglubhonkhonk
Summary: Since Christmas had gone so well, Sam promised Rory that he'd be his sponsor for Valentine's Day as well. But neither of them has much luck finding a lady to spend it with. So who better to celebrate with than each other?


**A Sponsor for Valentine's Day**

(featuring "When You Say Nothing At All" by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz)

"The last time I was this upset was in the third grade when Brendon Gallagher convinced me we were having another nationwide famine," Rory said, sitting in the back of the choir room with Sam.

"Yeah, it really doesn't help when everyone else seems to be flaunting the fact that they're together in our faces." Sam and Rory sighed simultaneously as they watched the other members of Glee decorate the room with pink hearts and little cut-outs of Cupid. Everyone seemed to be pairing off. Rachel was with Finn, Tina was with Mike, Santana was with Brittany, Kurt was with Blaine, and Mercedes had brought her boyfriend along. Even Quinn and Puck were remaining in close quarters with flirtatious eyes, and Artie was hanging around Sugar who was acting overly clumsy on purpose. Miss Pillsbury giggled coyly at a joke told by Mr. Schue. It was all so... February.

"Swift death would be merciful right about now," Rory groaned, leaning his head back against the wall. Sam laughed, but had to agree.

"I guess I'm not a great Valentine's Day sponsor after all," he apologized. "I wasn't much help getting you a girl and I didn't even get Mercedes back for myself."

Rory shrugged slightly. "Ah, well. Getting me a girl was probably like captaining the Titanic. Doomed from the start." Sam patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't be so hard on yourself! Yeah, I mean... you don't really have any friends besides the Glee club. And most of the jocks in the school kinda hate you. And Santana did convince a few Cheerios that you're a transfer from that school for the mentally impaired..."

"Please stop."

Sam grinned. "Well, to be honest, I'm actually glad that you didn't get a date either. We can hang out or something, yeah? It'll be fun. Who needs girls when you've got the Star Wars original trilogy collector's edition boxset?" Rory rolled his eyes at this, but he was smiling.

"Can we at least buy a ridiculous amount of chocolate candies to stave off the depression caused by this tiny fat baby that you Americans worship as the Valentine God?" he asked, titling his head Sam's way.

"I'm actually trying to watch my weight," he said tentatively, but at the mixed look of confusion and disappointment beginning to form on Rory's face, Sam quickly followed it up with, "but, for you, dude, I'll make an exception."

"Sam! Rory!" Rachel's voice called from across the room and the two boys looked up. "Come over here so we can take a group picture for the holiday!" She eagerly waved them over and they begrudgingly lifted from their seats to walk to the rest of the Glee club. Mr. Schue faced the group with the camera and began ordering them to squeeze in a little tighter. All the couples had paired themselves near each other in the photo, and it was quite obvious that everybody had someone. Rory heaved a great sigh.

"My legacy of loneliness will now forever be documented in someone's photo book," he whispered to Sam, who chuckled.

"Aw, c'mon. You've got me!" He swung his arm around Rory's shoulder and pulled him close as the picture was taken.

When the big day rolled around, Sam showed up on Brittany Pierce's doorstep, armed with a bag full of DVDs and candy. He rang the doorbell and waited for a few seconds before being greeted by a grinning Irishman.

"Hello Sam Evans!" he said, his voice cheery as he opened the door wider to let the blonde inside.

"I guess Brittany is with Santana tonight?" Sam said as he entered the living room and set his bag down by the couch. He was distracted from the question, however, by the overwhelming decoration. Everything was pink, red, and white. There were streamers hanging across the room and intricate patterns of lace on the walls. Everything seemed to be covered in a fine coat of glitter. And there were... candles? "Dude..."

"Yeah, it seemed a little strange to me when I was helping Brittany decorate," Rory replied, rubbing the back of his head. "I suppose most Americans don't go this extreme."

"The most we have at my place is a heart my sister cut out of some construction paper pinned to the fridge." Sam grabbed some DVDs from his bag and held them up to Rory. "So! We've got our classic American romance movies: Star Wars, Avatar, the first two seasons of the Doctor Who reboot, and Spiderman 1 and 2 but NOT Spiderman 3."

"I love America," Rory sighed with a smile and Sam laughed.

The hours passed as the two boys watched the movies and feasted on sugary snacks shaped like hearts and flowers and other cutesy propaganda. Sam did his best to teach Rory how to speak Na'avi, but it was, of course, an absolute disaster. There was more laughing at Rory's thick accent than actual instruction. Rory, in turn, tried to teach Sam some Irish phrases.

"There is no old stocking that doesn't find an old boot!" Rory exclaimed. Sam doubled over in laughter for about five minutes.

"What does that even mean?" he managed as he wiped tears from his eyes.

"It means... something like..." Rory searched for the right way to express it. "Everyone has somebody that's made for them."

"I like that," replied Sam as he straightened back up and popped another chalky candy heart into his mouth. "If only because I'd like to believe it's true."

"Doesn't everyone?" the brunette asked, and the two stayed silent for a moment, briefly sobered from their sugar high.

Sam was the one to speak back up. "As much as I'd like a girl right now, I almost think that... I'm just... I'm young, right?" Rory nodded. "I have all this time to worry about girls. And none of that has to be right now. I'm tired of worrying about everything. I just want... _no__worries_. And I want to be happy. That doesn't have to be _with_ someone. Relationships are just so... frustrating. Especially now. Because they're never real and - and like... you put your neck out for somebody and they just crush you. Who needs that?"

Rory eyed Sam for a moment. "Well... call me a romantic, but I think once you find that right person, all of the rest will have been worth it. All that trouble will help you cherish when you've got a good thing. You can get burned when the sun shines too brightly, but if it didn't, how would you see the moon?"

"You're very optimistic," Sam observed as a slow smile grew upon his face.

"Me mum calls it 'naïve'," Rory replied, tossing a chocolate kiss at him, but he managed to catch it in his mouth.

"I wish we could make this a yearly tradition," he said around the chocolate. "I think this is much more fun than I've ever had on some lousy date." Rory gave a mock bow.

"You're welcome," he said. "You know, I'm thinking about staying in America a bit longer. I haven't really found my adventure yet."

"What do you mean 'your adventure'?"

"Well..." Rory began. "I' love the United States; it's always seemed like some fairy tale land where anything can happen."

"Like Oz?"

"Like Oz. And I was really excited to do something great. To have an adventure I'd never forget. Something really fantastic, you know? I wanted to explore and learn... about everything. But mostly I've just spent my time being shoved into lockers and insulted by a Latina lesbian."

"Unfortunately, that's about as adventurous as I've found it gets in America," Sam responded. "But I can help you with one part of that." He stood up and pulled Rory with him. "If you want to learn, I, as your sponsor, have a duty to teach you."

"What're you going to teach me?" Rory questioned as Sam led him around the coffee table to the floor space in front of the television, where the title screen for Avatar was playing on a loop.

"How to woo the ladies, of course," the older boy replied. "I sort of owe you some tips."

"Do these tips involve having washboard abs? Because Irishman eat too many potatoes and drink too much beer to ever achieve that Sam Evans fitness." A light rose color tinted Sam's cheeks for a moment and he ran a hand through his hair.

"Well... I uh put a lot of work into it. But no!" He cleared his throat and clapped his hands together. "All it requires is charm."

"Charm..." Rory repeated. "I'm not sure I have much of that." Sam waved that thought away.

"You've already got plenty of it. I mean... the accent? Your funny little hairdo? It's cute." Sam ruffled Rory's hair and the latter gave him a goofy smile. "Yes! Like that smile. It'd make anyone's heart melt like a Valentine's chocolate in July."

"Does picking up girls include saying ridiculously cheesy lines like that?" Rory laughed and Sam shoved his shoulder lightly.

"The point is, that's who I am. I say cheesy things like that. The whole idea of being charming is just... being okay with being yourself, I think. Embrace all the weird you've got going on and turn it around to be a good thing. Go straight for what you want and don't apologize. And it doesn't hurt to sing to them, either."

"What kind of songs do American girls like? I don't expect them to fall for my Irish ballads."

"Well, you could always go the route of the Biebs," Sam suggested.

"The... what?"

"... Nevermind." Sam shook his head. "You're not really designed for that. I think what you'd be best at is just a simple love song. With your deep baritone? You'd kill them."

"But how do you go about singing to a girl? I'd feel odd just standing there and singing at her face." Rory stayed rigid and sang a few notes, demonstrating to Sam how awkward it looked.

"You can't be afraid to touch her, is the thing," the other boy explained. "Here. Like this." He gently took Rory's hand and pulled the boy a little closer. "Just look at her, let her know that she's all you see," he indicated this by meeting Rory's eyes. They looked at each other for a moment before Rory's eyes flickered away nervously. "And sing," Sam said. And that's just what he did.

"_It's __amazing __how __you __can __speak __right __to __my __heart_," his soft voice lilted out, directed right at Rory. "_Without __saying __a __word, __you __can __light __up __the __dark. __Try __as __I __may, __I __could __never __explain __what __I __hear __when __you __don't __say __a __thing._" He lifted their hands and spun Rory around with a smile as his voice picked up. "_The __smile __on __your __face __lets __me __know __that __you __need __me.__There's __a __truth __in __your __eyes, __sayin' __you'll __never __leave __me.__The __touch __of __your __hand __says __you'll __catch __me __if __ever __I __fall. __You __say __it __best... __when __you __say __nothing __at __all._"

Rory's face was beaming with amusement, but there was a nervous undertone to his features that Sam couldn't exactly explain. But as he sang, he felt less like he was teaching the Irish boy a lesson, and more like he was just... singing to him. "Now it's your turn," he said, willing Rory to start singing.

"_All __day __long, __I __can __hear __people __talking __out __loud. __But __when __you __hold __me __near, __you __drown __out __the __crowd._" Sam pulled Rory a little closer as the boy's deep voice gave a new twist to the song. Rory put his free hand on Sam's shoulder, smiling a little sheepishly as he continued. "_Oh __Mr. __Webster __could __never __define __what's __being __said __between __your __heart __and __mine. __The __smile __on __your __face __lets __me __know __that __you __need __me. __There's __a __truth __in __your __eyes __sayin' __you'll __never __leave __me. __The __touch __of __your __hand __says __you'll __catch __me __if __ever __I __fall. __You __say __it __best... __when __you __say __nothing __at __all._"

As Sam looked at his friend, he felt completely free of worry. The rest of the world had inexplicably vanished and all he could see was the candlelight flickering gently across Rory's face as they swayed together to their own voices. It was comfortable. Neither of them expected anything, neither of them felt out of place.

"_The __smile __on __your __face __lets __me __know __that __you __need __me. __There's a t__ruth __in __your __eyes __sayin' __you'll __never __leave __me_..." Rory sang.

"_The __touch __of __your __hand __says __you'll __catch __me __if __ever __I __fall.__You __say __it __best __when __you __say __nothing __at __all_," Sam finished, trailing off at the end. But they didn't separate. Their bodies kept swaying in the silence, neither one willing to end whatever they had just found. "Then I guess..." Sam began, his voice soft as he searched Rory's eyes, "once you've got her close, you'd kiss her." Rory's eyes flicked down to Sam's lips and then back up again. He leaned his head forward, pressing his own softly against them.

It was unlike anything Sam had ever felt. The mechanics were the same, but kissing Rory felt so easy. It was as if that was exactly where Sam was meant to be, exactly what he was meant to be doing. There was no question in his mind, no ulterior motives on either of their behalves. The kiss was innocent and heartfelt, just like the two boys had always been.

They were reluctant to pull away from each other, because that's when the questions would come. The warmth between their bodies would leave and taking its place would be anxiety and doubt. Sam had never kissed a boy before, never even considered it, and neither had Rory. There was a whole powder keg of confusion and trouble waiting to explode right next to them.

"Just..." Sam swallowed, still holding onto the other boy. "For right now, can we just..."

"No worries," Rory said, understanding Sam's intention. "For right now, no worries."

Sam smiled and pressed his lips against Rory's again, harder this time. More demanding, more desperate. They had one night where they could get everything right that both of them had always been getting wrong. One night to live in the fairy tale land they'd both been wanting but never thought existed. Then they could go back to the real world.

They kissed for a lot longer the second time, Sam's full lips guiding Rory's, their tongues sliding against each other's, tasting, trying, exploring, learning. Eventually, Sam pulled away again, a grin spread across his face.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Rory. From your sponsor."


End file.
